Thicker Than Water
by Erin Aesthetic
Summary: Dahlia Kent is an ordinary awkward girl with an interesting artistic talent. Her favorite drawing is of a man that has come to her in her dreams. Every night is the same thing. He tells her "I will protect you, Dahlia. I will protect you from him." She fears she will never know who her mystery protector is. Maybe her move to Mystic Falls will help her in her search.


Chapter One

Mystic Falls was just as gloomy as the pictures online. Except in the pictures, the sun would be shining. I moved here because my mom wanted to get out of the city and found a cheap house here. I could care less where we lived. It's not like I had any friends that would miss me back in Boston. Now I was just going to end up in some stupid small town. I can already hear the other people whispering about how weird I am. Perfect.

I looked out the window at the trees that would soon become my new home. My mom was droning on and on about how I was going to love it here and about how I would have a lot of inspiration for my drawings. At least she got one of those things right. The forests were beautiful. "Dahlia, look! It's our new home." We came up to a big house that looked like it was from the Victorian Era. It was old, but very well kept. She parked the car and got out. "The house should be furnished already, so go find a room you like and I'll find you later."

I nodded to her and got out of the car. I slung the backpack over my shoulder and walked into the house. It was nicer inside. I walked up the stairs and looked at all the rooms. I walked up to the first door and opened it. It was huge! The bed was big and had brown sheets on it. The curtains were thick and they blocked all sunlight if I wanted it to. There was a fuzzy brown carpet that surrounded the bed. I put my backpack on the floor next to the door and laid on the bed. It was so soft and comfortable.

My mom walked in and admired the room. "Ah, I knew you'd choose this room. It belonged to one of the Salvatore brothers. Stefan Salvatore to be exact." I laughed and rolled over to look at her. "Well he certainly had nice taste." She smiled and put my bag on the dresser. "Dinner will be ready at 7. Get washed up." She walked out and shut the door behind her. I hopped out of bed and got undressed. I had a strange feeling that someone was watching me. I turned to look behind me but no one was there. I shrugged it off and went into the bathroom to shower.

After my shower, I walked around my room in my towel. I came to this table that was full of papers. I shuffled them around and picked up a stack of them. It was just stupid stuff about the house or something. I flipped through them aimlessly until cut my finger. I dropped the papers and stuck my finger in my mouth. I looked at the floor and among the papers was a picture. It had some blood on it, so I guess it was the one I cut my finger on. I picked it up and looked at it. It showed a picture of a girl. She was beautiful. Her hair was curled and pinned back. She also had an amulet around her neck. Under the picture was writing, "Katherine 1864".

I picked up the rest of the papers and set them down. I then took one last look at the picture and set it on top of the rest. I looked out the window and sighed. After I got dressed I unpacked my clothes and put them in the drawers. I was strange having such a big room and not enough stuff to put in it. I walked into the closet and it was full of men's clothes. They must have been that Stefan guys' clothes from when he lived here.

I walked back into my room and looked around. Everything was just so different. I wasn't sure how to feel about this new place. I grabbed my sketchbook, walked out into the hall and down the stairs. Something didn't feel right. I had this feeling that told me to get out of there as soon as I could. I walked out of the front door and sat the swing bench that was on the patio. The feeling was gnawing at my skin and gave me the shivers.

I opened my sketchbook and continued drawing. I had started it a couple days ago. It was of this man. I didn't know who he was but he would always come to me in my dreams, saying the same thing as if it were on repeat. "I will protect you, Dahlia. I will protect you from him." It kind of gave me the creeps but I couldn't help but draw him. He had dark brown hair and a very sharp jaw line. What struck me most were his eyes. They were an abnormal shade of blue. It was like the sky on a cloudless day. I could never get the color right. I had mixed seven different colors together but none of them seemed to fit. I must have been so in to thought because I didn't notice the stranger walk up on the patio.

"Excuse me? Are you the family who bought this house?" I jumped at the sound of his voice and quickly closed my sketchbook. I stood up and held the book protectively to my chest and eyed him carefully. He was tall and handsome. He had short light brown hair and blue eyes. He had a nice jaw fixture. I would love to draw him. Maybe later on I might.

"I'm sorry if I scared you. My name is Stefan Salvatore. I use to live in this house. I just stopped by to see how you were settling in." He gave me a polite smile. "I'm Dahlia Kent. My mother and I just moved here from Boston." He smiled again and offered out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dahlia." I smiled shyly and extended my hand to shake his. The moment my skin touched his hand, he quickly recoiled and turned away. I snapped mine back and went back to protecting my book.

"I-is something wrong?" He didn't look at me. "Nothing's wrong. I must go." He quickly walked away from the house. I walked inside and shut the door, making sure to lock it. My mother stepped out of the kitchen. "Are you alright? Who was that you were talking to?" I looked out the window to look for Stefan, but he was gone. I shook my head and turned to look at her. "I don't know." She shrugged and smiled. "Probably just the neighbors dropping by to welcome us to the neighborhood." I nodded. "Yeah. You're probably right."

She walked back to the kitchen and I followed. Millions of things were running through my mind. Who was this Stefan Salvatore and why did he act so strange just now? I guess the only way I'd find out is by looking through all those papers on the table. My mom quickly snapped me out of my head and back into reality. "Did you hear what I said?" She looked me in the eyes. "Uh, no. Sorry." I gave her shy smile. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the stove. "I said, I hope you're hungry. Dinners ready." I sat at the table and smiled. "I'm starved."


End file.
